"Light of Mine" (audiobook) by Allen Brokken -- Author Interview, Blog Tour, and Giveaway

 

About the Book

Book: Light of Mine

Author: Allen Brokken

Narrator: Stacey Bradshaw

Genre: Middle grade Christian Fantasy

Release date: November 10, 2021

Darkness is spreading through Zoura. Beyond the borders of the heathlands, innocent animals are being turned into monsters, and good men into pawns of the Dark One. Father has vanished after joining the Mighty Mercenaries and mother has gone missing in search of him.

Alone on the farm, twelve-year-old Lauren and her brave little brothers, Aiden(9) and Ethan(5), must guard the Tower of Light that will guide both parents home. But when a hooded stranger is caught trespassing the farm, and a new bishop claims the church, confusion pervades their close-knit community. Will the children be able to recognize who is a threat to the Tower and who is there to help them protect it?

With little else but the aid of a trio of blessed pets, three holy weapons, and their growing faith, Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan find it is up to them to stop the agents of The Dark One from putting out the Light and dooming the heathlands to Darkness.

 Author Interview

1. What, according to you, is the hardest thing about writing?

Editing.  I hate having to leave really cool scenes, dialog or world building concepts on the “cutting room floor” so to speak.  Some of my best ideas have been completely cut out because they didn’t advance the plot or were too slow and ruined the suspense.

2. What would you say is the easiest aspect of writing?

Coming up with ideas of fun and novel situations.  They usually just flow.  So many ideas that I really can never do them all. That coupled with my generally fast writing speed lets me power through composing a story really easily.

3. Do you need to be in a specific place or room to write, or you can just sit in the middle of a café full of people and write?

I can write anywhere.  I used to write while I was traveling for work and have composed most of the books in my series at least 25% on my cell phone.  I prefer to work in my office now because of the setup I have, but I’ll sit down just about anywher to write.

5. How long does it usually take you to write a book?

I’m blessed in that I can compose about 1000 words an hour.  So I’ve had a number of 7000 word days. My books are between 50,000 and 65,000 words so the first draft is usually about 50-70 hours.  Then it takes about that same amount of time to rework it after I get it back from a conceptual edit.  Then the final copy-edit takes about half that time.  So all up around 120-150 hours.

7. What is your work schedule/routine when you write?

I don’t write full time so I have to fit it in.  Usually when I’m composing I write 1-2 hours every morning before work.  When I get close to a deadline I may take a day off from work and write all day.  But for the most part it’s a daily dose of writing.

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Allen Brokken is a teacher at heart, a husband and father most of all. He’s a joyful writer by the abundant grace of God. He began writing the Towers of Light series for his own children to help him illustrate the deep truths of the Bible in an engaging and age appropriate way. He’s dedicated 15 years of his life to volunteer roles in children’s ministry and youth development. Now that his own children are off to college he’s telling stories and sharing clean humor on social media @allenbrokkenauthor, and through his blog https://www.allenbrokkenauthor.com.

 

More from Allen

When my kids were young there was really nothing better than getting out of my car at the end of a long day at work and having my three little kiddos run up to me and give hugs because Daddy’s Home!  As a Father of three young children I was very concerned about the direction society was taking.  I wasn’t sure that with how things were going that I had the knowledge or the skill to train them up in the way they should go, as the Bible directs.

Then in 2008 I took a new job that had me traveling four days a week.  It was one of the hardest times of my life, the stress of a high pressure job, the loneliness of being on the road, and uncertainty of being a young parent really brought me to the end of myself.  However, all of the travel gave me a lot of time to study the scriptures and learn from the writing of great bible teachers.

It was during this time that I began to write stories for my children.  At first I brought my children’s stuffed animals to life for silly adventures.  But then one day while we were putting together a play fort in our back yard I saw a sunrise pattern in the wood in the top of the tower.  I thought:​

 

“What if there was a Tower of Light shining God’s goodness over the children and their animals?”

 

“What if the children experienced the indwelling of the holy spirit in a real way like Sampson or David?”

 

“What if the full armor of God was physical armor they could use to defeat the darkness?”

 

As I shared my story with my children, they loved it.

 

I believe you and your children will love it too.

Blog Stops

Texas Book-aholic, May 2

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, May 3

Guild Master, May 4 (Author Interview)

Inklings and notions, May 5

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, May 6 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, May 6

Vicarious Living, May 7

Vicky Sluiter, May 8 (Author Interview)

deb’s Book Review, May 8 (Spotlight)

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, May 9

Locks, Hooks and Books, May 10

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, May 11

Artistic Nobody, May 12

Simple Harvest Reads, May 13

Blossoms and Blessings, May 14 (Author Interview)

Cats in the Cradle Blog, May 15

Giveaway

To celebrate his tour, Allen is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/1d3be/light-of-mine-celebration-tour-giveaway